Discussion Questions 1. Define breakeven point. Why is the breakeven point important to managers? 2. Describe four different ways cost-volume-profit analysis could be useful to management. 3. The purchasing manager for Rockwell Hall Bags has been able to purchase the material for its signature handbags for $9 less per bag than in the prior year. Keeping everything else the same, what effect would this reduction in material cost have on the breakeven point for Rockwell Hall Bags? Now assume that the sales manager decides to reduce the selling price of each handbag by $9. What would the net effect of both of these changes be on the breakeven point in units for Rockwell Hall Bags? 4. Describe three ways that cost-volume-profit concepts could be used by a service organization. 5. Breakeven analysis isn’t very useful to a company because companies need to do more than break even to survive in the long run.” Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement. 6. What conditions must be met for cost-volume-profit analysis to be accurate? 7. Why is it necessary to calculate a weighted-average contribution margin ratio for a multiproduct company when calculating the breakeven point for that company? Why can’t all of the products’ contribution margin ratios just be added together and averaged? 8. Is the contribution margin ratio of a grocery store likely to be higher or lower than that of a plastics manufacturer? Explain the difference in cost structure between a grocery store and a plastics manufacturer. How does the cost structure difference impact operating risk? 9. Alston Jewelry had sales revenues last year of $2.4 million, while its breakeven point (in dollars) was $2.2 million. What was Alston Jewelry’s margin of safety in dollars? What does the term margin of safety mean? What can you discern about Alston Jewelry from its margin of safety? 10. Rondell Pharmacy is considering switching to the use of robots to fill prescriptions that consist of oral solids or medications in pill form. The robots will assist the human pharmacists and will reduce the number of human pharmacy workers needed. This change is expected to reduce the number of prescription filling errors, to reduce the customer’s wait time, and to reduce the total overall costs. How does the use of the robots affect Rondell Pharmacy’s cost structure? Explain the impact of this switch to robotics on Rondell Pharmacy’s operating risk. 11. Suppose a company can replace the packing material it currently uses with a biodegradable packing material. The company believes this move to biodegradable packing materials will be well received by the general public. However, the biodegradable packing materials are more expensive than the current packing materials, and the contribution margin ratios of the related products will drop. What are the arguments for the company to use the biodegradable packing materials? What are the arguments for the company to not use the biodegradable materials? What do you think the company should do? 12. How can CVP techniques be used in supporting a company’s sustainability efforts? Conversely, how might CVP be a barrier to sustainability efforts?

The controller for Dohini Manufacturing Company felt that the number of purchase orders alone did not explain the monthly purchasing cost. He knew that nonstandard orders (for example, one requiring an overseas supplier) took more time and effort. He collected data on the number of nonstandard orders for the past 12 months and added that information to the data on purchasing cost and total number of purchase orders. Multiple regression was run on the above data; the coefficients shown by the regression program are: Required: 1. Construct the cost formula for the purchasing activity showing the fixed cost and the variable rate. 2. If Dohini Manufacturing Company estimates that next month will have 430 total purchase orders and 45 nonstandard orders, what is the total estimated purchasing cost for that month? (Round your answer to the nearest dollar.) 3. What if Dohini Manufacturing wants to estimate purchasing cost for the coming year and expects 5,340 purchase orders and 580 nonstandard orders? What will estimated total purchasing cost be? What is the total fixed purchasing cost? Why doesnt it equal the fixed cost calculated in Requirement 2? (Round your answers to the nearest dollar.)

Refer to Cornerstone Exercise 3.4 for data on Dohini Manufacturing Companys purchasing cost and number of purchase orders. The controller for Dohini Manufacturing ran regression on the data, and the coefficients shown by the regression program are: Required: 1. Construct the cost formula for the purchasing activity showing the fixed cost and the variable rate. 2. If Dohini Manufacturing Company estimates that next month will have 430 purchase orders, what is the total estimated purchasing cost for that month? (Round your answer to the nearest dollar.) 3. What if Dohini Manufacturing wants to estimate purchasing cost for the coming year and expects 5,340 purchase orders? What will estimated total purchasing cost be? (Round your answer to the nearest dollar.) What is the total fixed purchasing cost? Why doesnt it equal the fixed cost calculated in Requirement 1?

Evaluating selling and administrative cost allocations Gordon Gecco Furniture Company has two major product lines with the following characteristics: Commercial office furniture: Few large orders, little advertising support, shipments in full truckloads, and low handling complexity Home office furniture: Many small orders, large advertising support, shipments in partial truckloads, and high handling complexity The company produced the following profitability report for management: The selling and administrative expenses are allocated to the products on the basis of relative sales dollars. Evaluate the accuracy of this report and recommend an alternative approach.

Carpetland salespersons average 8,000 per week in sales. Steve Contois, the firms vice president, proposes a compensation plan with new selling incentives. Steve hopes that the results of a trial selling period will enable him to conclude that the compensation plan increases the average sales per salesperson. a. Develop the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses. b. What is the Type I error in this situation? What are the consequences of making this error? c. What is the Type II error in this situation? What are the consequences of making this error?

Danna Martin, president of Mays Electronics, was concerned about the end-of-the year marketing report that she had just received. According to Larry Savage, marketing manager, a price decrease for the coming year was again needed to maintain the companys annual sales volume of integrated circuit boards (CBs). This would make a bad situation worse. The current selling price of 18 per unit was producing a 2-per-unit profithalf the customary 4-per-unit profit. Foreign competitors kept reducing their prices. To match the latest reduction would reduce the price from 18 to 14. This would put the price below the cost to produce and sell it. How could these firms sell for such a low price? Determined to find out if there were problems with the companys operations, Danna decided to hire a consultant to evaluate the way in which the CBs were produced and sold. After two weeks, the consultant had identified the following activities and costs: The consultant indicated that some preliminary activity analysis shows that per-unit costs can be reduced by at least 7. Since the marketing manager had indicated that the market share (sales volume) for the boards could be increased by 50% if the price could be reduced to 12, Danna became quite excited. Required: 1. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION What is activity-based management? What phases of activity analysis did the consultant provide? What else remains to be done? 2. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Identify as many nonvalue-added costs as possible. Compute the cost savings per unit that would be realized if these costs were eliminated. Was the consultant correct in the preliminary cost reduction assessment? Discuss actions that the company can take to reduce or eliminate the nonvalue-added activities. 3. Compute the unit cost required to maintain current market share, while earning a profit of 4 per unit. Now compute the unit cost required to expand sales by 50%, assuming a per-unit profit of 4. How much cost reduction would be required to achieve each unit cost? 4. Assume that further activity analysis revealed the following: switching to automated insertion would save 60,000 of engineering support and 90,000 of direct labor. Now, what is the total potential cost reduction per unit available from activity analysis? With these additional reductions, can Mays achieve the unit cost to maintain current sales? To increase it by 50%? What form of activity analysis is this: reduction, sharing, elimination, or selection? 5. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Calculate income based on current sales, prices, and costs. Then calculate the income by using a 14 price and a 12 price, assuming that the maximum cost reduction possible is achieved (including Requirement 4s reduction). What price should be selected?

Contribution Margin Ratio, Break-Even Sales, Operating Leverage Elgart Company produces plastic mailboxes. The projected income statement for the coming year follows: Required: 1. Compute the contribution margin ratio for the mailboxes. 2. How much revenue must Elgart earn in order to break even? 3. What is the effect on the contribution margin ratio if the unit selling price and unit variable cost each increase by 15%? 4. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Suppose that management has decided to give a 4% commission on all sales. The projected income statement does not reflect this commission. Recompute the contribution margin ratio, assuming that the commission will be paid. What effect does this have on the break-even point? 5. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION If the commission is paid as described in Requirement 4, management expects sales revenues to increase by 80,000. How will this affect operating leverage? Is it a sound decision to implement the commission? Support your answer with appropriate computations.

Extreme Sports sells logo sports merchandise. The company is contemplating whether or not to continue its custom embroidery service. All of the companys direct fixed costs can be avoided if a segment is dropped. This information is available for the segments. A. What will be the impact on net income if the embroidery segment is dropped? B. Assume that if the embroidery segment is dropped, apparel sales will increase 10%. What is the impact on the contribution margin and net income solely for the apparel? C. Identify one cost that is not relevant in this analysis.

Note that Barbaras Bistro in Figure 1-2 prepares monthly performance reports. Do you think that it would be a good idea for Barbara to switch to just an annual performance report in an effort to reduce its accounting costs?

The Chocolate Baker specializes in chocolate baked goods. The firm has long assessed the profitability of a product line by comparing revenues to the cost of goods sold. However, Barry White, the firms new accountant, wants to use an activity-based costing system that takes into consideration the cost of the delivery person. Following are activity and cost information relating to two of Chocolate Bakers major products: Using activity-based costing, which of the following statements is correct? a. The muffins are 2,000 more profitable. b. The cheesecakes are 75 more profitable. c. The muffins are 1,925 more profitable. d. The muffins have a higher profitability as a percentage of sales and, therefore, are more advantageous.

Sales Revenue Approach, Variable Cost Ratio, Contribution Margin Ratio Arberg Companys controller prepared the following budgeted income statement for the coming year: Required: 1. What is Arbergs variable cost ratio? What is its contribution margin ratio? 2. Suppose Arbergs actual revenues are 30,000 more than budgeted. By how much will operating income increase? Give the answer without preparing a new income statement 3. How much sales revenue must Arberg earn to break even? Prepare a contribution margin income statement to verify the accuracy of your answer. 4. What is Arbergs expected margin of safety? 5. What is Arbergs margin of safety if sales revenue is 380,000?

Cost-Volume-Profit, Margin of Safety Victoria Company produces a single product. Last years income statement is as follows: Required: 1. Compute the break-even point in units and sales dollars calculated using the break-even units. 2. What was the margin of safety for Victoria last year in sales dollars? 3. Suppose that Victoria is considering an investment in new technology that will increase fixed cost by 250,000 per year but will lower variable costs to 45% of sales. Units sold will remain unchanged. Prepare a budgeted income statement assuming that Victoria makes this investment. What is the new break-even point in sales dollars, assuming that the investment is made?

Cost Behavior, High-Low Method, Pricing Decision Fonseca, Ruiz, and Dunn is a large, local accounting firm located in a southwestern city. Carlos Ruiz, one of the firms founders, appreciates the success his firm has enjoyed and wants to give something back to his community. He believes that an inexpensive accounting services clinic could provide basic accounting services for small businesses located in the barrio. He wants to price the services at cost. Since the clinic is brand new, it has no experience to go on. Carlos decided to operate the clinic for 2 months before determining how much to charge per hour on an ongoing basis. As a temporary measure, the clinic adopted an hourly charge of 25, half the amount charged by Fonseca, Ruiz, and Dunn for professional services. The accounting services clinic opened on January 1. During January, the clinic had 120 hours of professional service. During February, the activity was 150 hours. Costs for these two levels of activity usage are as follows: Required: 1. Classify each cost as fixed, variable, or mixed, using hours of professional service as the activity driver. 2. Use the high-low method to separate the mixed costs into their fixed and variable components. (Note: Round variable rates to two decimal places and fixed amounts to the nearest dollar.) 3. Luz Mondragon, the chief paraprofessional of the clinic, has estimated that the clinic will average 140 professional hours per month. If the clinic is to be operated as a nonprofit organization, how much will it need to charge per professional hour ? How much of this charge is variable? How much is fixed? (Note: Round answers to two decimal places.) 4. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Suppose the accounting center averages 170 professional hours per month. How much would need to be charged per hour for the center to cover its costs ? Explain why the per-hour charge decreased as the activity output increased. (Note: Round answers to two decimal places.)

Solution Summary: The author explains breakeven point and cost-volume-profit analysis's effect on sustainability efforts under different scenarios.

Concept explainers

Videos

Want to see the full answer?

Chapter 7 Solutions